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VIDEO: Press Conference in Bolivia (Aug 20 2018)

Speech by Shannon Biggs at the press conference in Bolivia on August 20th, a day after the Tribunal was detained at the TIPNIS. Transcript in English / Spanish.

Transcript (English):

I’m going to talk a little bit about the government of the Tribunal and the role of Bolivia in the global movement for the Rights of Nature.

This is my second time in Bolivia. It’s a country that has had a great impact in my life and in my work. The first time I was here I went to Tiquipaya at the invitation of Evo Morales. He praised the work of those who were defending the rights of Mother Earth.

What was created in Tiquipaya was an explosion for the movement and energy for the Rights of Nature. It inspired action globally and created a powerful document, the Universal Declaration for the Rights of Mother Earth. That declaration spells out the relationship between humans and all of Earth’s life forms, the kind of relationship we need to have if we as humans wanting continue as a species on this planet. It speaks of a system of reciprocity, following the laws of nature, and recognizing that human laws need to be connected to the laws of nature. It also addresses changes to human laws, culture, economy, and energy, to achieve a balance that is necessary for life. It was inspirational for indigenous people all over the world as well.

At home in the United States, I work with the indigenous Ponca nation of Oklahoma. Their population faces a death per week from fracking and underneath their land are 2,000 miles of oil pipelines. They cannot grow organic food within 16 miles of their land. Their wells are poisoned and they must to buy water from the city.

But from all of those destruction comes leadership. This year they have become the first tribal nation in the United States to recognize the rights of nature, to stop fracking and pipelines, and to protect their territory.

Also I have just come back from New Zealand where I was visiting with the Maori indigenous people who have recognized the rights of entire ecosystems, including rivers.

The Whanganui tribe are called the “river people” and they say that “I am the river and the river is me, from the mountain to the sea.” They understand the river as their ancestor and now the government of New Zealand also recognizes the river as a spiritual, holistic being with rights based upon indigenous cosmology.

All over the world this work is moving forward. The Rights of Nature Tribunal is also emerged from Tiquipaya.

As a judge on the Tribunal in Bonn, Germany in November, I was very moved by the presentation and the passionate case of the TIPNIS and the invitation for a commission to come to Bolivia, to return to see for themselves what is at stake, to meet with the people on all sides, and the government as well. So we are grateful for the opportunity to be here and for me personally to return to Bolivia in this way.